I am devoted to scientific research, but you want to trick me into having a love relationship?

Chapter 604 He's vaguely comparable to this cheat-like guy.

Oxford has a temperate maritime climate with relatively small temperature differences between seasons. Winters are often rainy and foggy, and November is one of the wettest months in Oxford. It was already a hazy afternoon with fog in the air.

The damp, cold air seeped into his neck, and Xu Qingzhou couldn't help but tighten his collar. "This awful weather in Europe... it's much more comfortable staying in Xia Country."

He found the new college by following the route he remembered.

In his previous life, he had spent two months here as part of an exchange program, and he was already very familiar with the area.

Oxford University is the oldest university in the world, with a history of over 800 years. Walking on its streets, you can truly feel the weight of history.

"Oxford's ancient stone walls, MIT's steel megastructures, and Peking University's Yenching Garden in autumn each have their own unique characteristics."

Xu Qingzhou turned right at the intersection of Broad Street and Catte Street, entering a narrow cobblestone street where the New College Gothic stone archway could be vaguely seen.

Oxford University has 39 colleges.
But it's different from the ones in China.

Some colleges only admit postgraduate students, while others, like Oxford's Wallings College, have no students but only fellows.

In addition, Oxford University has more than 100 libraries with an astonishing collection of books.

Xu Qingzhou followed the road signs to the seminar room for group discussions.

Professor Harvey stood at the door, smiling and extending his hand: "Professor Xu, welcome. The report this morning was excellent."

"Thank you, I look forward to seeing your results."

Xu Qingzhou smiled modestly and greeted the other party.

"I guarantee you won't have made a wasted trip."

Professor Harvey gestured for him to proceed.

When Xu Qingzhou entered the auditorium, he found that there were quite a few people. More than 100 condensed matter physicists and industry experts from all over the world were sitting in the small auditorium. When they saw Xu Qingzhou come in, many people nodded slightly to greet him, and he responded with a smile.

“Professor Chen, I don’t think I saw you a few days ago.” Xu Qingzhou’s gaze quickly fell on the face of an Asian man, and he sat down next to him.

An old acquaintance, Chen Rongxuan, chief scientist of CATL.

It is a common phenomenon worldwide for leading enterprises to participate in academic conferences, as this is a good opportunity to gain exposure and promote cooperation.

"I was in a meeting in London yesterday, and I came here specifically today."

Chen Rongxuan glanced at Professor Harvey on the stage and smiled gently: "Although the guys at the Max Planck Institute are very arrogant, they are undeniably skilled in technology. To be honest, I'm quite looking forward to seeing what new technologies they can bring."

"I heard that your sodium-ion battery experiment was successful, and the energy density has reached 200 Wh/kg. Congratulations, Professor Chen."

"A minor breakthrough, not worth mentioning."

Chen Rongxuan shook his head: "The data provided by the Max Planck Institute says that their theoretical energy density for lithium metal solid-state batteries can reach 500 Wh/kg."

CATL's technological direction differs from that of the Max Planck Institute. CATL is already at the forefront of the world in sodium-ion batteries, structural innovation (CTP technology), and high-energy-density material systems.

The Max Planck Institute focuses on lithium metal solid-state batteries, researching sandwich solid electrolytes, starting with lithium dendrites.

Xu Qingzhou said, "But the lithium dendrite problem is not easy to solve."

Yes, the theoretical energy density reaches 500 Wh/kg, but without solving the lithium dendrite problem, it's all useless. For example, the theoretical energy density of lithium-sulfur batteries is also over 2,000, but why can't they be widely adopted? It's because there are too many problems.

Chen Rongxuan remained noncommittal, stating that lithium dendrites were a major obstacle, and that theoretical energy density and such things were just empty tricks used to attract investment.

He wasn't under much pressure; their lab's latest experiment showed that the battery's energy density had reached 300 Wh/kg, which was solid data.

A dozen more people entered the auditorium. Professor Harvey didn't waste any time; he went up on stage and briefly welcomed everyone.

After rambling on for a while, he changed the subject and continued with a smile, "Well, it turns out that people are probably more interested in seeing our experimental results than in hearing my welcoming remarks." Professor Harvey tapped his computer.

Suddenly, lines of complex data appeared on the projection screen.

Energy density: 404 Wh/kg
Critical current density (CCD): 1.52 mA/cm.

Symmetrical cell cycle life: 500 hours at 5 mA/cm.

Full battery cycle performance: 80% capacity retention after 800 cycles

"Oh my God, what have I just seen?"

"404 Wh/kg energy density? Honestly, I suspect they've confused theoretical energy density with experimental data."

A hushed discussion immediately filled the seminar room.

"Tsk tsk, not bad." Even Xu Qingzhou was a little surprised and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. As expected of a world-class research institute, it is far ahead.

This data is vaguely comparable to their current achievements.

Chen Rongxuan stared intently at the screen, his eyes filled with disbelief, and then he looked at each piece of data one by one.

The data exhibited by this sample is several times more advanced than their current data!
In terms of energy density, even the most advanced ternary lithium batteries today only reach 250-300 Wh/kg.

Chen Rongxuan's heart sank.

At the last meeting, they were all saying that China could maintain its advantage in the battery field for at least 5 to 10 years. Needless to say, China already dominates in lithium-ion batteries, and it will not be weak in solid-state batteries either.

However, only two months later, the Max Planck Society has already produced groundbreaking results.

"They skipped the traditional pressure encapsulation step... This could be a paradigm shift in interfacial chemistry."

"If the data is accurate, mass production of all-solid-state batteries will be achieved ahead of schedule in 2023, and Tesla's 4680 solution will be completely overturned!"

"Tesla's people don't seem to be reacting much."

"Reaction? Dude, didn't you know the Max Planck Institute and Tesla have a collaboration? Tesla invested over $1 million in this project."

Professor Harvey smiled faintly; this was exactly the effect they wanted—to crush their competitors was wonderful.

Of course, while some were shocked, others remained skeptical. One old man asked, "How do you explain the stability of the interface after 800 hours of cycling? Mr. Harvey, existing theories cannot support this self-healing mechanism!"

"The halide layer is dynamically reorganized through Ta-La-Cl ternary bonds, and its bond energy changes form a negative feedback with the dendritic stress field."

Professor Harvey then showed everyone the Raman spectroscopy data.

The old man stared at the data for a long time before finally sitting down.

Subsequently, several other scholars raised their own questions, but Professor Harvey was prepared and answered them easily.

"We achieved dynamic battery repair by inserting a halide electrolyte."

"This technology is at least 4-5 years ahead of its competitors. Tesla's solid-state battery (CCD 0.8 mA/cm) and Toyota's sulfide route have pointed us in the right direction, and we have solved the defects in their mass production process."

Xu Qingzhou nodded slightly.

The Max Planck Institute is quite strong. Currently, most technologies on the market are passive suppression methods, with scientists using various techniques to inhibit the formation of lithium dendrites.

Meanwhile, Max Planck has reached the stage of proactive cleanup, which can be considered as opening up a new path for interface engineering.

(End of this chapter)